TV Recording Options

[brikis98]

My dad records a ton of soccer games but is still using our old-ass VCR to do it. His birthday is coming up and I was trying to figure out what better alternatives there were to the VCR...

1. Comcast DVR: I believe they offer service where he lives, but I don't know much about it. Would he need a diff set-top box? Is it just a monthly subscription? Any way to buy the box and avoid a monthly charge (esp since I don't live there and can't exactly order a monthly service for him)?

2. Tivo: don't know much about it either. How much does it cost? Is it a monthly fee + a set top box you have to buy?

3. TV Tuner + big ass external HD: I could get a TV tuner for him and teach him to record programs to the hard drive. This would obv. have no monthly fee, but is much more technically complicated and his TV is currently nowhere near his computer...

Which of these would you recommend? Any other alternatives? Thanks.

 

[nitromullet]

I opted for the Comcast DVR.

I wanted an HD cable box for my new HDTV and Comcast has an HD package for +$10/month over their regular digital package or they have an HD + HD DVR for $10/month over the regular digital package. Given that, it was pretty much a no brainer. It does require a different box, so that means you have to pay them to install it. Overall, my wife and I have been pretty pleased with the Comcast DVR. It works just fine and we didn't have to use yet another remote because it uses the same one as the cable box, which is nice added bonus. Honestly, Comcast is not my favorite company to deal with, but when their products work (which they mostly do), they do have good products.

 

[brikis98]

thanks for the reply... it looks like here HD and DVR are separate... HD is ~$9/month and DVR $15/month... although he doesn't own an HDTV anyway, so prob only the DVR is necessary.

any other opinions/recommendations?

 

[imported_chewy2314]

You can build him a MCE2005 box or a WinXP box with MediaPortal (free).

I have a MCE2005 box with dual analog tuners and a HD OTA tuner. combo works very well and I can burn the recordings to DVD. I also use showanalyzer to mark commercials.

My wife prefers our Tivo Series2: easier to use.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: chiu
You can build him a MCE2005 box or a WinXP box with MediaPortal (free).

I have a MCE2005 box with dual analog tuners and a HD OTA tuner. combo works very well and I can burn the recordings to DVD. I also use showanalyzer to mark commercials.

My wife prefers our Tivo Series2: easier to use.

can you tell me more about Tivo Series2? What's it offer? How much does it cost?

 

[Wheezer]

why not get a good DVD recorder with a HArd Drive, say lilke Pioneer?

That way if he wants to he can archive the games he wants to DVD and before he does, edit out commercials?

A good Pioneer unit is going to cost 300-400 I think. You will spend close to that for a subscription service per year. I am suggesting Pioneer units because i have one and the quality is outstanding even below slightly SP mode.

SP=2 hours
2.5-3 hours ona Pioneer unit still looks fantastic.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: chiu
You can build him a MCE2005 box or a WinXP box with MediaPortal (free).

I have a MCE2005 box with dual analog tuners and a HD OTA tuner. combo works very well and I can burn the recordings to DVD. I also use showanalyzer to mark commercials.

My wife prefers our Tivo Series2: easier to use.

can you tell me more about Tivo Series2? What's it offer? How much does it cost?

http://www.tivo.com/2.0.boxdetails.asp?box=series280hrDvr

 

[nole1fan]

I will build him a PC with either MCE or PC with XP, and run GB-PVR which is XP based PVR, and works beautiful. YOu can also buy MVP from Hauppauge which interacts with GBPVR, and you can watch recorded or live TV anywhere you have Ethernet or Wireless connectivity in your house.

Nice thing about GBPVR is that it does have hooks to remove the commercials using Comskip. I also have XP's Media Center Edition which may have crisper and more friendly user interface for novice, but GBPVR beats him hands down for the tweaks. I love Comskip which goes through the entire program, and removes the commercials.

 

[Devoluti0n]

Comcast DVR has worked well for me as I didn't have to buy the box outright. I've used Tivo before and the interface is what you're really paying for, and it is quite nice. If you google Comcast Tivo you'll find that the Tivo interface is coming to Comcast in the next few months for only a few bucks extra per month.

 

[brikis98]

are there any standalone DVR's worth getting that don't have a subscribtion fee?

 

[brikis98]

bump for more opinions...

 

[brikis98]

one more try...